The Effect of Truth
by Bentdish
Summary: The crew's message from Miranda had a larger effect on the 'verse then they ever thought. Now, with the prospects of another war, and the fall of the alliance getting closer, Mal learns that a tradgedy has hit his home on Shadow. Rated T for language.


**Hello, hello, hello! I know. :( I switched stories _again_. Eh, what can I say? Sorry. Anywho! This one just popped up in my head, and I had to write it down. And voila! Uh, in this one, some Chinese will be typed in English, but will have these(,) at the end and beginning of the phrase/word. Why? I'm lazy or I couldn't find a translation of it. Then, other bits willl be typped out in the translation. It just depends on if I can find a translation. And, yes, I know that Shadow really got blown up. That never happened .**

**Enjoy. :D**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"Ain't no ruttin' way I'm steppin' on that rock." Jayne glared at Mal. Mal looked at him, angry.

"I don't care what you say. We gotta. We do the job, an' this is part of it."

"My muscular buttocks we gotta. I don't give a (damn) what you say. I mean it, Mal. I ain't goin'. Take Zoe." Jayne was now standing, face to face with Mal.

"You givin' me orders on_ my_ boat?"

"If ya wanna see it in that light, yeah." The two men looked at each other for a long time. Everyone else was silent, looking down.

"Zoe, get ready to go." Immediately, the first mate jumped up and left the room. Mal turned his attention back to Jayne. "You ever pull somethin' like this again, I _will_ shoot you." With that, the captain turned and left to the cargo hold, silently fuming.

Soon, the crew was down in the hold, doing their last minute preparations. Mal and Zoe each took a hold of a sack, full of the goods.

"Alright. Jayne, open it." He watched as Jayne pressed the button to open the air lock door. Once it was open, Ariel, in all her beautiful emptiness appeared.

The once bustling planet was not so anymore due to the crew's signal of truth from Miranda. Sure, the video was only put up on 30 worlds, and about 50 moons, but it spread. Like a plague, it infected every screen in the 'verse. It spread by every means; by folk and by itself. The little crew of _Serenity_ knew it would have an impact, but nothing like this. Immediately, the outer planets, and even groups of people in the Core, started rioting. They banded together. And the Alliance was completely thrown for a loop. They never expected it. Central planets became less active, way less. People only went out when they had to. Whole businesses closed altogether. Meanwhile, the one's on the rim were busier then ever. Needless to say, it was starting to look a whole lot like another war was coming. Fast. And what has the crew who caused it all been doing? What they've always done: kept flying. The jobs now had a more 'war-effort' feel to them, but, they were still jobs. Though they could walk around on Ariel nearly as easy as they could on any outer-rim moon, they were still cautious.

Mal and Zoe took in the view for a moment before continuing on.

"I don't like this, sir." Zoe commented, observing the barren streets.

"Jus' keep walkin'. We're nearly there." And, sure enough, after a few more minutes, they reached their destination. The duo slipped into the alley next to the white, clean building, making sure to not be seen by the few people on the street. Once behind it, they went through a doorway into the structure. Inside, they found a dark room with a lot of guys who had a lot of guns. All pointed at them.

"Well… hello, boys." Mal anxiously said as he set down the bag and put his hands over his head, Zoe doing the same. Suddenly, a voice came out from the dark.

"Check them." Two men came up and patted them down before taking the bags for inspection.

"We're jus' here to make the drop. Doin' good on our end of the deal." Mal said in the direction of the voice.

"Oh, I don't doubt that, Mr. Reynolds. It's just, I don't know you. This _is_ our first time dealing and I don't know how trust-worthy you are, only what I'm told." The owner of the voice stepped into the light, revealing a woman in her late twenties, dressed in what would be called a 'woman's suit'. She had blonde hair and glasses.

"I'm good on my end, Ms. Yin, I can guarantee you that." She just gave him a small smile.

"It's good, Ma'am." One of the men who had checked the bags reported. Ms. Yin gestured and a third man placed a bag in her hand, Mal could only guess that it was the money they agreed on. She hesitated.

"I'm assumin' you'll be good on yours, o' course." He gave her a poignant look.

"You know, Mr. Reynolds, I've been thinking." She handed the bag back to the man behind her.

"Far as I conjure it, thinkin' can be a dangerous past-time." She gave him an offended, angry look. "But… in your case, I'm sure it's completely safe. What ya been thinking of?"

"That, maybe, this transaction is… hazardous to our cause and what we want. You see, you have delivered our guns and ammunition-"

"Very dutifully at that."

"- but, in doing so, you have learned of what we want, and now, you know where we are."

"And it's a lovely place, looks just like the rest of the planet, very difficult to find." She turned and headed for the next room.

"Not so difficult. You two," She pointed at two of the gun-toters. "bring the bags. As for the rest of you, well, you know what to do." Immediately, the Captain and his first-mate jumped into action, pulling out their guns, and lunging for the small couch next to them. As for the Gun-Toters? They were busy shooting at the small couch. Mal had a tiny problem on his hands.

"Never. Again. Never will I ever deal with that Jien huo _again_!" He bounced up and squeezed of a few rounds, and two men hit the ground. The gunfight ensued and soon Mal was fed up. "Call the ship! Tell Jayne to get his ass out here!"

"But, sir, Jayne-"

"I don't care! Tell him he won't get paid if he don't." With that, he bounced up once again and fired. No one fell this time. Zoe, on the other-hand, shot one more time before calling and one man was going to need a preacher.

"_Serenity_!" Soon, a small voice came over the radio.

"_Zoe? What's going on?_"

"Kaylee! Tell Jayne to get his ass over here, or no one's gettin' paid!"

"_O-okay._"

"Jayne's on his way, Captain." Mal heard, but didn't reply. Their small couch was beginning to become a small… well, small. It wouldn't protect them much longer.

"Zoe, head for the door!" The Captain popped his head up quickly to count. "Out of the ten, five left. Not to mention the two with the lady." Mal watched as Zoe jumped for the door, making it out and using the wall for cover, Mal close behind, using the other side of the doorway for cover. They were still for a second.

"Sir, we gotta go. Alliance'll be here soon, and we still gotta get the cash." Mal contemplated.

"Okay, let's go. She went that way." He pointed and they took off, hoping the armed men wouldn't follow. Once, back onto the main street, Jayne joined them.

"I stay back for one job, and you can't do it with out me." If he hadn't been so pre-occupied, Mal would have shot him where he stood. Instead, he took off after Ms. Yin again.

"She could be anywhere by now! How in the hell did you screw this up so badly!?" Jayne was getting cranky due to the lack of money, and having to be where he didn't want to be.

"Shut up, Jayne!" Zoe yelled and continued running. "Where are we going, sir?"

"I'm not all too sure. I'm guessing!" they ran on again for a while, taking random alley's and roads. Keeping track of them so they can find their way back, of course. Soon, they were too tired.

"Ni ta ma de. Tiyanxia suoyoude ren. Dou gaisi!" Mal yelled. He had just lost himself a good bag of money.

"Son of a bitch…" Zoe mumbled.

"Ah, hell! Now we don' even got the goods. Gorramit, Mal!" Mal had had enough. He turned, pointed his gun, and fired. It grazed Jayne's arm, cutting it.

"Ow, you hwan dan! You shot me!"

"You've been doin' nothin' but complaining to me since we took this job, Jayne. I'm tired of it, an' I'm tired of you. I got half a mind to leave you here. Let the feds have you." They were silent, Jayne silently groaning in pain. "But I ain't gonna. You know that." Mal holstered his gun and headed back. Once safely on _Serenity_, they broke atmo in five minutes.

* * *

That night Mal sat alone on the bridge, flying _Serenity_ at a steady pace. He kept replaying the events of the day in his head. He had been so stupid! He should have seen it coming. Now he had no goods and no money. What they had left wasn't much. Enough to maybe get one job done and then get a little more. That was all they needed, just a bit more money. He heard tiny, silent footsteps climbing the stairs to the bridge.

"You're angry." The young psychic said.

"Yep. I'm angry."

"You're also hurt." he looked at her.

"Well, unless I got shot and don't know about it, I'm fine."

"Not hurt on the outside." He stared at her for a minute before looking away.

"What're you talkin' about?" He was avoiding her gaze.

"You're angry and hurt by her. You wanted her to come back, but she didn't. She left again." Mal kept staring at the stars, silent as death. Refusing to respond. Soon, River turned and left.

"Yeah. She left again." He piloted the ship in silence for a few more hours, and it was getting late when he got a sudden wave.

"Ni hao." On the screen popped a rugged, blond man. He looked tired and worn out. He was unshaven and his blue eyes looked like they had seen too much. They were the eyes of an old, experienced man. Not the young fellow he was. Mal recognized him immediately.

"Murphy!" He said surprised.

"Hello, Mal." Murphy flashed a small, half-hearted smile.

"What… what brings the wave?" Mal was nervous. Murphy was a few years older then Mal and the son of one of the hands on the ranch Mal's mother owns. They had grown-up together, and were nearly as close as brothers. He also was the kind to never be too serious.

"Mal, it's your mom. She's sick." Mal was now silent and serious. "She's dying, Mal. You need to come back home to Shadow." Mal sighed and sat down. He couldn't believe it. It felt like he had hit a wall. Like he had slammed right into it face first.

"Uh… How's Luke?" He asked, looking back into the screen.

"She's sad and scared. She needs her brother, Mal. She needs you." Mal ran his hand over his face in an attempt to get rid of the sensation of being slapped.

"Ok. I can be there in three days. H… how long does she have?"

"The doc gave her a week and a half. Two weeks if she's strong."

"Ok. See you in three days."

"Good-bye, my friend. I'm sorry."

"Yeah. Bye." With that, the bearer of bad news was gone. Mal sat and sat. His mom had always been strong. To be dying like this, well, it was unlike her. He sat there for a long time, not flying the ship, not thinking, just… sitting. Letting it sink in. He sighed a deep, heavy sigh and grabbed the inter-com.

"This is the Captain. I… I need everyone on the bridge. Now."

It a took a few moments, but soon everyone was there. In their pajamas with very tired faces.

"What is so important that you feel the ruttin' need to wake us up?" Jayne asked, angry as always. Zoe, reading the Captain's face, told him to shut up.

"Sir? What's Wrong?"

"Little while ago I got a wave from an old friend on Shadow."

"Where you're from?" Simon asked.

"Yeah. Anyway, he let me know that my, uh, my mother is sick. She's dying, and I gotta go back to the ranch." Everyone just looked at him with sad faces.

"Ok. Are we headed there yet?" Zoe asked, stepping up. Mal just shook his head.

"Well, then let's start." She walked over and sat in the pilot's seat and put in the coordinates to Shadow. "I got things here, sir. Why don't you go get some sleep?" Slowly, everyone shuffled out, Mal last and slowest. Once in his bunk, he lay in his cot, unable to sleep. But, soon, darkness took him and he had one of the worst nights he'd ever had. Full of nightmares about the war and his mother. Dreams of the crew, his sister, and Inara all fighting, and, eventually, dying.

* * *

**Allright.**

**Jien huo = Cheap floozy**

**Ni ta ma de. Tiyanxia suoyoude ren. Dou gaisi! = Everyone in the heavens ought to die!**

**Hwan dan = bastard**

**I feel bad. I made our BDH's lose. :( Oh well, they can't always win.**

**R&R, _PLEASE._**


End file.
